Hunting, Slaughtering

I asked the Prophet about the game killed by a Mi'rad (i.e. a
sharp-edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided with a sharp
piece of iron used for hunting). He said, "If the game is killed with
its sharp edge, eat of it, but if it is killed with its shaft, with a
hit by its broad side then the game is (unlawful to eat) for it has
been beaten to death." I asked him about the game killed by a trained
hound. He said, "If the hound catches the game for you, eat of it, for
killing the game by the hound, is like its slaughtering. But if you
see with your hound or hounds another dog, and you are afraid that it
might have shared in hunting the game with your hound and killed it,
then you should not eat of it, because you have mentioned Allah's name
on (sending) your hound only, but you have not mentioned it on some
other hound

I asked Allah's Apostle about the Mi'rad. He said, "If you hit the
game with its sharp edge, eat it, but if the Mi'rad hits the game with
its shaft with a hit by its broad side do not eat it, for it has been
beaten to death with a piece of wood. (i.e. unlawful)." I asked, "If I
let loose my trained hound after a game?" He said, "If you let loose
your trained hound after game, and mention the name of Allah, then you
can eat." I said, "If the hound eats of the game?" He said "Then you
should not eat of it, for the hound has hunted the game for itself and
not for you." I said, "Some times I send my hound and then I find some
other hound with it?" He said "Don't eat the game, as you have
mentioned the Name of Allah on your dog only and not on the other."

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We let loose our trained hounds after a
game?" He said, "Eat what they hunt for you." I said, "Even if they
killed (the game)?" He replied, 'Even if they killed (the game)." I
said, 'We also hit (the game) with the Mi'rad?" He said, "Eat of the
animal which the Mi'rad kills by piercing its body, but do not eat of
the animal which is killed by the broad side of the Mi'rad.''

I said, "O Allah's Prophet! We are living in a land ruled by the
people of the Scripture; Can we take our meals in their utensils? In
that land there is plenty of game and I hunt the game with my bow and
with my hound that is not trained and with my trained hound. Then what
is lawful for me to eat?" He said, "As for what you have mentioned
about the people of the Scripture, if you can get utensils other than
theirs, do not eat out of theirs, but if you cannot get other than
theirs, wash their utensils and eat out of it. If you hunt an animal
with your bow after mentioning Allah's Name, eat of it. and if you
hunt something with your trained hound after mentioning Allah's Name,
eat of it, and if you hunt something with your untrained hound (and
get it before it dies) and slaughter it, eat of it."

that he saw a man throwing stones with two fingers (at something) and
said to him, "Do not throw stones, for Allah's Apostle has forbidden
throwing stones, or e used to dislike it." 'Abdullah added: Throwing
stones will neither hunt the game, nor kill (or hurt) an enemy, but it
may break a tooth or gouge out an eye." Afterwards 'Abdullah once
again saw the man throwing stones. He said to him, "I tell you that
Allah's Apostle has forbidden or disliked the throwing the stones (in
such a way), yet you are throwing stones! I shall not talk to you for
such-and-such a period."

I asked Allah's Apostle. "We hunt with the help of these hounds." He
said, "If you let loose your trained hounds after a game, and mention
the name of Allah, then you can eat what the hounds catch for you,
even if they killed the game. But you should not eat of it if the
hound has eaten of it, for then it is likely that the hound has caught
the game for itself. And if other hounds join your hound in hunting
the game, then do not eat of it."

The Prophet said, "If you let loose your hound after a game and
mention Allah's Name on sending it, and the hound catches the game and
kills it, then you can eat of it. But if the hound eats of it, then
you should not eat thereof, for the hound has caught it for itself.
And if along with your hound, join other hounds, and Allah's Name was
not mentioned at the time of their sending, and they catch an animal
and kill it, you should not ea: of it, for you will not know which of
them has killed it. And if you have thrown an arrow at the game and
then find it (dead) two or three days later and, it bears no mark
other than the wound inflicted by your arrow, then you can eat of it.
But if the game is found (dead) in water, then do not eat of it." And
it has also been narrated by 'Adi bin Hatim that he asked the Prophet
"If a hunter throws an arrow at the game and after tracing it for two
or three days he finds it dead but still bearing his arrow, (can he
eat of it)?" The Prophet replied, "He can eat if he wishes."

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I let loose my hound after a game and
mention Allah's Name on sending it." The Prophet said, "If you let
loose your hound after a game and you mention Allah's Name on sending
it and the hound catches and kills the game and eats of it, then you
should not eat of it, for it has killed it for itself." I said,
"Sometimes when I send my hound after a game, I find another hound
along with it and I do not know which of them has caught the game." He
said, "You must not eat of it because you have not mentioned, the Name
of Allah except on sending your own hound, and you did not mention it
on the other hound." Then I asked him about the game hunted with a
Mi'rad (i.e. a sharp edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided
with a sharp piece of iron used for hunting). He said, "If the game is
killed with its sharp edge, you can eat of it, but if it is killed by
its broad side (shaft), you cannot eat of it, for then it is like an
animal beaten to death with a pie

I asked Allah's Apostle, "We hunt with these hounds." He said, "If you
send your trained hounds after a game and mention Allah's Name on
sending, you can eat of what they catch for you. But if the hound eats
of the game, then you must not eat of it, for I am afraid that the
hound caught it for itself, and if another hound joins your hounds
(during the hunt), you should not eat of the game."

I came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are living
in the land of the people of the Scripture and we take our meals in
their utensils, and in the land there is game and I hunt with my bow
and trained or untrained hounds; please tell me what is lawful for us
of that." He said, "As for your saying that you are living in the land
of the people of the Scripture and that you eat in their utensils, if
you can get utensils other than theirs, do not eat in their utensils,
but if you do not find (other than theirs), then wash their utensils
and eat in them. As for your saying that you are in the land of game,
if you hung something with your bow, and have mentioned Allah's Name
while hunting, then you can eat (the game). And if you hunt something
with your trained hound, and have mentioned Allah's Name on sending it
for hunting then you can eat (the game). But if you hunt something
with your untrained hound and you were able to slaughter it before its
death, you can eat of it."

We provoked a rabbit at Marr Az-Zahran till it started jumping. My
companions chased it till they got tired. But I alone ran after it and
caught it and brought it to Abu Talha. He sent both its legs to the
Prophet who accepted them.

that once he was with Allah's Apostle (on the way to Mecca). When he
had covered some of the way to Mecca, he and some companions of his,
who were in the state of lhram. remained behind the Prophet while Abu
Qatada himself was not in the state of Ihram. Abu Qatada, seeing an
onager rode his horse and asked his companions to hand him a whip, but
they refused. He then asked them to hand him his spear, but they
refused. Then he took it himself and attacked the onager and killed
it. Some of the Companions of Allah's Apostle ate of it, but some
others refused to eat. When they met Allah's Apostle they asked him
about that. He said, "It was meal given to you by Allah."

I was with the Prophet (on a journey) between Mecca and Medina, and
all of them, (i.e. the Prophet and his companions) were in the state
of Ihram, while I was not in that state. I was riding my horse and I
used to be fond of ascending mountains. So while I was doing so I
noticed that the people were looking at something. I went to see what
it was, and behold it was an onager. I asked my companions, "What is
that?" They said, "We do not know." I said, "It is an onager.' They
said, "It is what you have seen." I had left my whip, so I said to
them, "Hand to me my whip." They said, "We will not help you in that
(in hunting the onager)." I got down, took my whip and chased the
animal (on my horse) and did not stop till I killed it. I went to them
and said, "Come on, carry it!" But they said, "We will not even touch
it." At last I alone carried it and brought it to them. Some of them
ate of it and some refused to eat of it. I said (to them), "I will ask
the Prophet about it (on your behalf)." When I met the Prophet, I told
him the whole story. He said to me, "Has anything of it been left with
you?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Eat, for it is a meal Allah has offered
to you."

We went out in a campaign and the army was called The Army of the
Khabt, and Abu 'Ubaida was our commander. We were struck with severe
hunger. Then the sea threw a huge dead fish called Al-'Anbar, the like
of which had never been seen. We ate of it for half a month, and then
Abu 'Ubaida took one of its bones (and made an arch of it) so that a
rider could easily pass under it.

The Prophet sent us as an army unit of three hundred warriors under
the command of Abu 'Ubaida to ambush a caravan of the Quraish. But we
were struck with such severe hunger that we ate the Khabt (desert
bushes), so our army was called the Army of the Khabt. Then the sea
threw a huge fish called Al-'Anbar and we ate of it for half a month
and rubbed our bodies with its fat till our bodies became healthy.
Then Abu Ubaida took one of its ribs and fixed it over the ground and
a rider passed underneath it. There was a man amongst us who
slaughtered three camels when hunger became severe, and he slaughtered
three more, but after that Abu 'Ubaida forbade him to do so.

I came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are living in
the land of the people of the Scripture, and we take our meals in
their utensils, and there is game in that land and I hunt with my bow
and with my trained hound and with my untrained hound." The Prophet
said, "As for your saying that you are in the land of people of the
Scripture, you should not eat in their utensils unless you find no
alternative, in which case you must wash the utensils and then eat in
them As for your saying that you are in the land of game, if you hunt
something with your bow, mention Allah's Name (while hunting the game)
and eat; and if you hunt something with your trained hound, mention
Allah's Name on sending and eat; and if you hunt something with your
untrained hound and get it alive, slaughter it and you can eat of it"

In the evening of the day of the conquest of Khaibar, the army made
fires (for cooking). The Prophet said, "For what have you made these
fires?" They said, "For cooking the meat of domestic donkeys." He
said, "Throw away what is in the cooking pots and break the pots." A
man from the people got up and said, "Shall we throw the contents of
the cooking pots and then wash the pots (instead of breaking them)?"
The Prophet said, "Yes, you can do either'

We were with the Prophet in Dhul-Hulaifa and there the people were
struck with severe hunger. Then we got camels and sheep as war booty
(and slaughtered them). The Prophet was behind all the people. The
people hurried and fixed the cooking pots (for cooking) but the
Prophet came there and ordered that the cooking pots be turned upside
down. Then he distributed the animals, regarding ten sheep as equal to
one camel. One of the camels ran away and there were a few horses with
the people. They chased the camel but they got tired, whereupon a man
shot it with an arrow whereby Allah stopped it. The Prophet said,
"Among these animals some are as wild as wild beasts, so if one of
them runs away from you, treat it in this way." I said. "We hope, or
we are afraid that tomorrow we will meet the enemy and we have no
knives, shall we slaughter (our animals) with canes?" The Prophet
said, "If the killing tool causes blood to gush out and if Allah's
Name is mentioned, eat (of the slaughterer animal). But do not
slaughter with a tooth or a nail. I am telling you why: A tooth is a
bone, and the nail is the knife of Ethiopians."

Allah's Apostle said that he met Zaid bin 'Amr Nufail at a place near
Baldah and this had happened before Allah's Apostle received the
Divine Inspiration. Allah's Apostle presented a dish of meat (that had
been offered to him by the pagans) to Zaid bin 'Amr, but Zaid refused
to eat of it and then said (to the pagans), "I do not eat of what you
slaughter on your stonealtars (Ansabs) nor do I eat except that on
which Allah's Name has been mentioned on slaughtering."

Once during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle we offered some animals as
sacrifices. Some people slaughtered their sacrifices before the (Id)
prayer, so when the Prophet finished his prayer, he saw that they had
slaughtered their sacrifices before the prayer. He said, "Whoever has
slaughtered (his sacrifice) before the prayer, should slaughter
(another sacrifice) in lieu of it; and whoever has not yet slaughtered
it till we have prayed; should slaughter (it) by mentioning Allah's
Name."

that a slave girl of theirs used to shepherd some sheep at Si'a (a
mountain near Medina). On seeing one of her sheep dying, she broke a
stone and slaughtered it. Ka'b said to his family, "Do not eat (of it)
till I go to the Prophet and ask him, or, till I send someone to ask
him." So he went to the Prophet or sent someone to him The Prophet
permitted (them) to eat it.

that Ka'b had a slave girl who used to graze his sheep on a small
mountain, called "Sl'a", situated near the market. Once a sheep was
dying, so she broke a stone and slaughtered it with it. When they
mentioned that to the Prophet, he, permitted them to eat it.

that he said, "O Allah's Apostle! We have no knife." The Prophet said,
"if the killing tool causes blood to gush out, and if Allah's Name is
mentioned, eat (of the slaughtered animal). But do not slaughter with
a nail or a tooth, for the nail is the knife of Ethiopians and a tooth
is a bone." Suddenly a camel ran away and it was stopped (with an
arrow). The Prophet then said, "Of these camels there are some which
are as wild as wild beasts; so if one of them runs away from you and
you cannot catch it, treat it in this manner (i.e. shoot it with an
arrow)."

A slave girl belonging to Ka'b used to graze some sheep at Sl'a
(mountain). Once one of her sheep was dying. She reached it (before it
died) and slaughtered it with a stone. The Prophet was asked, and he
said, "Eat it."

A group of people said to the Prophet, "Some people bring us meat and
we do not know whether they have mentioned Allah's Name or not on
slaughtering the animal." He said, "Mention Allah's Name on it and
eat." Those people had embraced Islam recently.

While we were besieging the castle of Khaibar, Somebody threw a skin
full of fat and I went ahead to take it, but on looking behind, I saw
the Prophet and I felt shy in his presence (and did not take it).

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are going to face the enemy tomorrow
and we do not have knives." He said, "Hurry up (in killing the
animal). If the killing tool causes blood to flow out, and if Allah's
Name is mentioned, eat (of the slaughtered animal). But do not
slaughter with a tooth or a nail. I will tell you why: As for the
tooth, it is a bone; and as for the nail, it is the knife of
Ethiopians." Then we got some camels and sheep as war booty, and one
of those camels ran away, whereupon a man shot it with an arrow and
stopped it. Allah's Apostle said, "Of these camels there are some
which are as wild as wild beasts, so if one of them (runs away and)
makes you tired, treat it in this manner."

that he entered upon Yahya bin Said while one of Yahya's sons was
aiming at a hen after tying it. Ibn 'Umar walked to it and untied it.
Then he brought it and the boy and said. "Prevent your boys from tying
the birds for the sake of killing them, as I have heard the Prophet
forbidding the killing of an animal or other living thing after tying
them."

While I was with Ibn 'Umar, we passed by a group of young men who had
tied a hen and started shooting at it. When they saw Ibn 'Umar, they
dispersed, leaving it. On that Ibn 'Umar said, "Who has done this? The
Prophet cursed the one who did so."

We were in the company of Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari and there were friendly
relations between us and this tribe of Jarm. Abu Musa was presented
with a dish containing chicken. Among the people there was sitting a
red-faced man who did not come near the food. Abu Musa said (to him),
"Come on (and eat), for I have seen Allah's Apostle eating of it (i.e.
chicken)." He said, "I have seen it eating something (dirty) and since
then I have disliked it, and have taken an oath that I shall not eat
it ' Abu Musa said, "Come on, I will tell you (or narrate to you).
Once I went to Allah s Apostle with a group of Al-Ash'ariyin, and met
him while he was angry, distributing some camels of Rakat. We asked
for mounts but he took an oath that he would not give us any mounts,
and added, 'I have nothing to mount you on' In the meantime some
camels of booty were brought to Allah's Apostle and he asked twice,
'Where are Al-Ash'ariyin?" So he gave us five white camels with big
humps. We stayed for a short while (after we had covered a little
distance), and then I said to my companions, "Allah's Apostle has
forgotten his oath. By Allah, if we do not remind Allah's Apostle of
his oath, we will never be successful." So we returned to the Prophet
and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We asked you for mounts, but you took an
oath that you would not give us any mounts; we think that you have
forgotten your oath.' He said, 'It is Allah Who has given you mounts.
By Allah, and Allah willing, if I take an oath and later find
something else better than that. then I do what is better and expiate
my oath.' "

Someone came to Allah's Apostle and said, "The donkeys have been
(slaughtered and) eaten. Another man came and said, "The donkeys have
been destroyed." On that the Prophet ordered a caller to announce to
the people: Allah and His Apostle forbid you to eat the meat of
donkeys, for it is impure.' Thus the pots were turned upside down
while the (donkeys') meat was boiling in them.

I said to Jabir bin Zaid, "The people claim that Allah's Apostle
forbade the eating of donkey's meat." He said, "Al-Hakam bin 'Amr
Al-Ghifari used to say so when he was with us, but Ibn 'Abbas, the
great religious learned man, refused to give a final verdict and
recited:-- 'Say: I find not in that which has been inspired to me
anything forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it
be carrion, blood poured forth or the flesh of swine...' (6.145)

Allah's Apostle said, "None is wounded in Allah's Cause but will come
on the Day of Resurrection with his wound bleeding. The thing that
will come out of his wound will be the color of blood, but its smell
will be the smell of musk."

The Prophet said, 'The example of a good pious companion and an evil
one is that of a person carrying musk and another blowing a pair of
bellows. The one who is carrying musk will either give you some
perfume as a present, or you will buy some from him, or you will get a
good smell from him, but the one who is blowing a pair of bellows will
either burn your clothes or you will get a bad smell from him."

Once we provoked a rabbit at Marr-az-Zahran. The people chased it till
they got tired. Then I caught It and brought it to Abu Talha, who
slaughtered it and then sent both its pelvic pieces (or legs) to the
Prophet, and the Prophet accepted the present.

Allah's Apostle and I entered the house of Maimuna. A roasted
mastigure was served. Allah's Apostle stretched his hand out (to eat
of it) but some woman said, "Inform Allah's Apostle of what he is
about to eat." So they said, "It is mastigure, O Allah's Apostle!" He
withdrew his hand, whereupon I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Is it
unlawful?" He said, "No, but this is not found in the land of my
people, so I dislike it." So I pulled the mastigure towards me and ate
it while Allah's Apostle was looking at me.

regarding an animal, e.g., a mouse or some other animal that had
fallen into solid or liquid oil or butter-fat: I had been informed
that a mouse had died in butter-fat whereupon Allah's Apostle ordered
that the butter-fat near it be thrown away and the rest of the
butter-fat can be eaten.

I brought a brother of mine to the Prophet to do Tahnik for him while
the Prophet was in a sheep fold of his, and I saw him branding a
sheep. (The sub-narrator said: I think Anas said, branding it on the
ear.)

I said to the Prophet, "We will be facing the enemy tomorrow and we
have no knives (for slaughtering)' He said, "If you slaughter the
animal with anything that causes its blood to flow out, and if Allah's
Name is mentioned on slaughtering it, eat of it, unless the killing
instrument is a tooth or nail. I will tell you why: As for the tooth,
it is a bone; and as for the nail, it is the knife of Ethiopians." The
quick ones among the people got the war booty while the Prophet was
behind the people. So they placed the cooking pots on the fire, but
the Prophet ordered the cooking pots to be turned upside down. Then he
distributed (the war booty) among them, considering one camel as equal
to ten sheep. Then a camel belonging to the first party of people ran
away and they had no horses with them, so a man shot it with an arrow
whereby Allah stopped it. The Prophet said, "Of these animals there
are some which are as wild as wild beasts. So, if anyone of them runs
away like this, do like this (shoot it with an arrow)."

While we were with the Prophet. on a journey, one of the camels ran
away. A man shot it with an arrow and stopped it. The Prophet said,
"Of these camels some are as wild as wild beasts, so if one of them
runs away and you cannot catch it, then do like this (shoot it with an
arrow)." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Sometimes when we are in battles
or on a journey we want to slaughter (animals) but we have no knives."
He said, "Listen! If you slaughter the animal with anything that
causes its blood to flow out, and if Allah's Name is mentioned on
slaughtering it, eat of it, provided that the slaughtering instrument
is not a tooth or a nail, as the tooth is a bone and the nail is the
knife of Ethiopians."